


Through Surprises and Screams

by ried (riiiied)



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 21:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12590636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riiiied/pseuds/ried
Summary: When Kasumi took the members of Poppin' Party to a haunted house, Rimi wasn't confident of how well she'd handle the surprises within.





	Through Surprises and Screams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rubylily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/gifts).



“Here we are!” Kasumi said loudly, dashing towards the haunted house as she spread her arms wide.

“Huh, so this is – gah, what on earth is with that line!?” Arisa did a double-take the moment she laid her eyes on the lines in front of the building.

Running up to catch up to her friends, Rimi took a thorough look at the haunted house Kasumi had took (well, half-dragged is what Arisa would say) the whole of Poppin' Party to. On the outside, it was fashioned like an old, worn-down Western-style house. From time to time, shrieks could be heard coming from inside.

“Well, it is almost Halloween after all,” Tae said, her eyes scanning the length of the line. “And besides, it's not as long as those ones in big amusement parks.”

“You can't compare this to that!” Arisa snapped. “And Kasumi, stop pulling my arm!”

“Eeeh? But the line will get even longer if we don't hurry up!”

Rimi was too immersed in examining the main haunted house that she didn't realise everyone else had gone ahead until Saaya tapped on her shoulder. “You okay there, Rimi-rin?”

“Ah, Saaya-chan. I'm fine, it's just… there's a lot of people screaming from in there, isn't there.”

“Yeah, I noticed that too,” Saaya said, slightly wincing. As they caught up and queued to buy the tickets, she turned again to Rimi. “It does kinda make you scared for what lies inside, doesn't it?”

“W-well… I'm not really good with surprises...” Rimi cast her gaze downwards.

“Don't be down like that, Rimi-rin!” From the front of their group, Kasumi reached out towards Rimi. “We'll all be going inside together, after all!”

“It says that you can only go inside in twos, though.”

“What!?” Four heads turned simultaneously towards Tae, who pointed them towards the board beside the booth window.

“Ah, you're right,” Saaya said, slightly bending forwards to better read the sign.

“So we can't all go in together!? That's such a shame!”

“Wait, so you dragged us all here without even knowing that?” Arisa frowned at Kasumi. “Seriously, plan first before you do!”

“And there's five of us...” Saaya glanced at her friends in turn. “Someone has to go in alone. What do we do?”

“Huh? Go in alone? Are you crazy?”

Kasumi smirked. “Eh? What is it, Arisa, are you perhaps scared already?”

“W-what?” Arisa pulled back. “I'm – I'm not – look, you don't know what lies in there, isn't it just normal to want to have someone to help you in case anything happens, okay?”

“Suuuure.”

“A-anyway, this is all your fault for not doing your research!”

“Take it easy, both of you, you'll lose your voices before you even go in,” Saaya said, tapping both their shoulders. “But we still need to decide how we're going to split out going in.”

Tae hold up a hand. “Why don't we do rock-paper-scissors?”

“...and then the first loser goes alone?” Arisa said warily.

“Well, that's how it usually goes, right? Unless somebody wants to volunteer to go alone...”

When it became clear nobody was going to take Tae's offer, Rimi spoke up, “I-I think rock-paper-scissors is the fairest way...”

“Can't say no to that.” Being in the middle of the group, Saaya stepped a bit to the side such that the rest were able to make a half-circle. “Shall we go, then?”

* * *

“Aah, going in with Saaya is definitely going to be good too, but I really thought going with Arisa would be a lot of fun!” Kasumi whined as they progressed forward in the line to go into the haunted house. Beside her was Saaya, with Arisa and Rimi behind her, and Tae even further behind.

“Meanwhile, I'm very much relieved not to go with you,” Arisa said with a deadpan. “You're good with this too, right, Rimi?”

“A-ah, y-yeah, I don't mind going in with you, Arisa-chan,” Rimi said in answer. “But Otae-chan, are you okay going in on your own?”

Tae put a hand on her chin. “Hmm… well, physically I'm the biggest out of everyone here, so I guess it'd be the hardest for the ghosts to mess with me alone. So this is probably for the best.”

Arisa raised an eyebrow. “Why are you going in with the assumption that the ghosts are going to mess with you? They're just pretending and we're their paying guests, you know? They won't actually do anything dangerous to the customers!”

“Uh-huh, so they're just pretending, huh, Arisa? So that means you would've been okay even if you were the one chosen to go alone?”

“Kasumi, don't go and make things worse!” After half-screaming at Kasumi, Arisa turned again towards Tae. “Anyway, Otae, if anything scary does come up, you can just scream and run and not do anything funny besides that, okay?”

“Okay,” Tae said in affirmation, but her expression still looked slightly unsure. “Ah, but if I'm alone and there's no one to hear my screams, is there really a point to screaming?”

“Ooh, Otae, so philosophical!”

“There's nothing philosophical about that, Kasumi. And there's totally people to hear you screaming anyway – haven't you been listening to any of that?” Arisa pointed at the main building.

“Hey, everyone, we gotta go forward with the queue,” Saaya said, already starting to move forward herself. “Ah, it looks like we'll be going in after the next pair, Kasumi.”

“Whoa, you're right, we're already in front all of a sudden!” Kasumi was practically bouncing in place. “I can't wait!”

In contrast to Kasumi's giddiness, Saaya's smile was combined with a slight frown. “I think I would've liked a bit more time to prepare myself, though.”

“Preparation...” Rimi looked down at her fingers, fiddling them together. There wasn't really much for them to prepare physically – it wasn't like they were there to fight the ghosts, after all. And even mentally, she wasn't sure what to do either – it was true that she wasn't good with being surprised, but there wasn't really anything she could do for that at that point. And what if her being surprised made Arisa even more surprised? Arisa wasn't as dry with her as with Kasumi, but she couldn't imagine Arisa being too happy about it either.

In the middle of being preoccupied with her thoughts, Rimi heard Arisa calling her name softly from beside her. “Hey, Rimi? If you ever get scared in there, you can always hold my hand, okay?”

When Rimi looked down at Arisa's hand, it looked like it was shaking slightly. But it could have just been the slightly chilly wind going through. “Thanks, Arisa-chan.”

* * *

“S-s-s-so, R-Rimi, j-just stay calm and walk carefully, okay? A-and don't let go of my hand!”

“...okay, Arisa-chan...”

Ever since they entered the haunted house, Arisa had been holding tight onto Rimi's hand, her own hand still trembling. Even so, she had made sure that she stood slightly in front of Rimi and keeping watch of their surroundings. Rimi figured she was trying to be brave for her, and it made her smile.

But she was still on guard herself. Scanning the area around her, she tried to be alert at anything that may come out to surprise them. The dim lighting in the corridor didn't help much in -

“Aaah!”

“W-Whaaa!” Arisa shouted and stepped back together with Rimi. “W-w-w-what's wrong, Rimi?”

“...ah, it was just a painting.” On a wall was a large painting of a woman in a voluminous black dress, looking down at passer-bys.

“...geez, Rimi, don't scare me like that,” Arisa chided lightly, but it was clear from the tone of her voice that she was relieved. “Wait, it's really just a painting, right? Its eyes aren't moving or anything?”

For a few seconds, they stood still, and the painting was just as still. “It doesn't look like it's moving at all. Sorry for surprising you, Arisa-chan...”

“W-well, it's not really weird to be surprised in this place. Besides, that painting is still kinda creepy either way. A-anyway, let's just get back on our way quickly,” Arisa said, tugging on Rimi's hand.

Walking cautiously, they eventually reached a bend with curtains covering the way forward. “I have a bad feeling about this,” Arisa said as they approached the turn.

“W-well, we can't go back where we came in from, right?”

“Right.” Arisa cautiously places her hands on the curtains that covered their way forward. “I hope there's nothing weird waiting on the other side...”

As Arisa slowly parted the curtains, Rimi cowered slightly behind her. What if something jumps from the other side of the curtains? And yet, the curtains only opened to an area fashioned like a dining room, which, while as poorly-lit as the previous corridors and covered with copious artificial cobwebs, didn't immediately look threatening.

Arisa heaved a sigh. “Phew, looks like there's nothing weird here for now. Come on, Rimi, let's go.”

Following Arisa's lead, Rimi walked past the curtains and immediately looked around, still cautious. Maybe something would jump out of the other side of the dining table. Maybe the cabinets would suddenly open on their own. Maybe - 

At that moment, Rimi heard some rustling sounds from behind her, and made the mistake (or maybe, the correct reaction) of looking back, and what she saw made her scream in surprise, which was joined in by Arisa when she turned towards the same direction.

Appearing suddenly from behind the curtains was a figure clad in all black, except for the unnaturally pale face, with streaks of red liquid going down.

“W-w-wha-what is – when did that - “ Arisa said, stammering.

“Ah… one of the ghosts of this place...” Stepping backwards while making sure not to bump into Arisa, Rimi made a bowing gesture. “Sorry for screaming at -”

“Why are you apologising? It's time to run!”

Rimi didn't get to finish her sentence before Arisa dragged her running across the area and onto the doorway on the other side that opened to another corridor. Stopping to catch a breath, Arisa turned around towards Rimi. “What did you think you were doing? Who on Earth says 'sorry' to someone who just tried to scare you?”

“W-well… the 'ghosts' here are just doing their job… and our screaming might have surprised them, so -”

“That we're running is exactly them 'doing their job'! In fact, screaming is probably the way to tell them, 'Thank you for your good work!'”

“I-is that so...” Rimi pulled back, slightly surprised by Arisa's tone. Just as she feared, she was just making it harder on Arisa.

Seeing that, Arisa said in a hurry, “A-ah, sorry, Rimi, I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just… A-anyway, let's just go forward!”

Slowly, they made their way across the corridor, looking left and right for anything that might potentially surprise them. And yet, they were still caught off-guard when a panel suddenly opened from the left wall and something jutted out of it.

“Gaaaaah!” Arisa instinctively jumped away from it, pushing the also-surprised Rimi along with her.

“W-w-w-waaah! ...it's a puppet...”

The thing coming out of the wall was a worn-out puppet, also with red spots all over it. Without even thinking about it, Rimi was looking over Arisa's shoulder, trying to get a closer look at it, but Arisa was already pushing her towards the direction of the exit.

“Don't try to touch it! Don't examine it! Let's just go!”

“Ah… okay...”

Unfortunately, when they arrived at the end of the corridor and had to turn into a wider room, there were still more surprises waiting for them: as they approached the middle of the room, something suddenly fell in front of them from the ceiling, suspended by a rope.

Rimi was the first to scream, closing her eyes and turning her head away. But Arisa had the more drastic reaction, falling backwards on her bottom, pointing at the hanging figure.

“What – why is it – from above – who would – what the hell is on with this place!”

Finally opening her eyes, Rimi looked at what just fell down – a mannequin in all white, or rather in all white-and-red-stains. She looked at Arisa, and then back to the mannequin. “A-ah… s-sorry again for being so surprised, I -”

“It's a mannequin! It can't understand or reply even if you apologise to it! W-we should just go ahead!” And yet, despite her harsh words, Arisa was still on the floor, not getting up.

“...Arisa-chan?” Not getting a reply, Rimi approached Arisa, kneeling beside her. “Are you all right?”

“T-t-there's not really any reason not to be, is there...” Arisa said weakly, still down on the floor.

With a slight hesitation, Rimi reached out to grab one of Arisa's hands. “Arisa-chan… you're right. We should just go ahead...”

“Rimi...”

Rimi pushed herself to stand up, pulling Arisa up with her. As she stood up, Arisa leaned towards Rimi, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Seriously, what was Kasumi thinking, making us come to this place?”

Holding Arisa's hand again, Rimi guided both of them towards the exit of the room. “We must be over half-way through the house, it shouldn't be long before we get out.”

Arisa returned the hold even more strongly, now walking more surely. “I'm definitely going to give her an earful when we're out of here...”

* * *

When Arisa and Rimi finally made their way outside, both of them were panting heavily.

“Arisa, Rimi-rin! You made it.”

Looking forward, Rimi saw Saaya approaching, with Kasumi dashing from behind her.

“Saaya-chan, Kasumi-chan...”

Seeing Kasumi inch closer, Arisa's weariness suddenly seemed to halve. “Kasumi! Honestly, how many times have your whims put us in a hard time!”

“Eeh? But I thought you were thankful for not going in with me?”

“This and that are different things! And besides...” Arisa looked over to Rimi. “In some respects, I'm starting to think that she was just as bad in a different way.”

“E-e-eeeeh?” Rimi nearly squealed.

“I mean, is there anyone who apologises to a haunted house ghost? And she even does it to a mannequin! I thought you said you were bad with surprises?”

“B-but I really was bad with surprises in there, though? I-I screamed whenever something unexpected came out...”

“Yeah, and then you'd try to examine it! Or talk to it!”

“I-I'm sorry...”

“Now, now, Arisa, I'm sure Rimi-rin didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,” Saaya said, patting Arisa on the shoulder. “Rimi-rin, you didn't get anything that troubled you too much inside there?”

“Ah, no… what about you, Saaya-chan, how was it in there with Kasumi-chan?”

“Well...” Saaya glanced sideways at Kasumi. “She sure made a lot of noises, even if it weren't always screams of fear. Looking at her, at times you might wonder if she were in a candy shop instead.”

“But some of it are really cool, though!” Kasumi protested. “Like the mannequin suddenly dropping down from the ceiling! And the ghost people that just pop up from nowhere! Doesn't it make you wonder where they were hiding?”

Hearing that, Arisa's jaw dropped open. “...I seriously have no idea what goes on in your brain sometimes.”

Saaya looked like she was going to say something else, but then she noticed something, or rather someone, from behind Arisa and Rimi. “Ah, Otae's here too.”

All of them turned around to the exit again, and there Tae was, pacing towards them. “Ah, I totally screamed and ran. I'm all worn out.”

“You certainly don't sound that worn out,” Arisa said, unconvinced.

“Well… I guess some of the things I saw in there helped me power through. Did you see the taxidermy room? There was also a rabbit skeleton in there, I bet it was cute when it was alive.”

“...How the hell did you manage to look at anything in there and even think of the word 'cute'. Forget everything I said before, you're the one I'm glad I didn't have to go in with.”

“Wow, Otae, seriously?” Not even noticing Arisa's words, Kasumi zoomed straights towards Tae. “They really have a lot of cool things in there, don't they!”

With Kasumi excitedly chatting up Tae and tagging Saaya along with her, Rimi and Arisa were again left together. Arisa still had the exasperated expression on her, but at least the weariness she had inside the haunted house seemed mostly gone. Even so, Rimi still wasn't quite sure what to say to her.

“Arisa-chan -”

“I'm sorry,” Arisa blurted out just as quickly. “I mean, for what I said just now. I-I was just really surprised by what you did inside there, but I didn't really think that I'd rather not go with you. And also…” Arisa turned her face away before continuing. “Thanks. For sticking with me and not going off alone without me.”

Rimi stood still, taking in Arisa's words. She didn't feel like she did anything special (and who would even think of leaving a friend alone just like that?) but if Arisa thought it was helpful, then she was glad for it. “...it's nothing, Arisa-chan. T-thanks too, for reminding me to just push forward...”

“Anyway!” Kasumi's voice suddenly boomed. “Now that we've finished our spooky warm-up, it's time to go watch some horror movies! Now we can actually all sit next to each other!” Pointing towards the approximate direction of the nearest shopping centre, she marched ahead.

“Wait, that was what you call a warm-up? What the hell, Kasumi?” Despite her complaining, Arisa still followed Kasumi's lead.

Behind her, Tae tagged along. “My throat's pretty dry after all that screaming and running, though… can we grab something to drink first?”

“We can always buy some snacks at the theatre,” Saaya said, also catching up.

Following them all, Rimi nodded with a smile. She still wasn't sure of how well she'd handle jump scares in a horror movie. But maybe she could pick one of the middle seats, and then she'd be able to hold her friends' hands on both sides.


End file.
